Taganga, situated a couple of kilometres outside of Santa Marta
I sleep through the bus journey, and after a quick scoot around we find some beds at the Bayview hostel, Taganga. Thank goodness for the sea breeze, it is so great to be out of the city. For such a tiny town, there are so many tourists. It has got a laid-back hippy-feel, an easy place to relax and more than likely stay longer than originally intended!
First glimpse of Taganga at sunset
The fishermen, forever busy with their boats
Helene and I are on 'mission-detox' so everyday we swim in the pool at 8am, followed by a 25- minutes mountain-walk to Playa Grande (the next beach along). Joe, our new English friend comes along and does semi-detox, washed down by 5 or so beers in the evening! ;-)
Main street, Taganga
Taganga beach, not so nice as Playa Grande
On the beach, we drink fresh fruit smoothies and eat fresh shrimp (with a dash of lime, Tabasco & red onions).
Joe and Helene waiting for a very 'special' fruit salad!
The sea is fantastic to swim as there are few waves at Playa Grande (there are a few more at Taganga).
Helene & Joe (new friend, UK) reading on Playa Grande
Three men in a boat
Marie and Mauri have decided to learn how to scuba-dive and are doing their PADI Open Water course.
Marie getting reading for her first dive
I really like Bayview hostal, maybe one of my favourites. I like the bright colours, breezy rooms and it seems to attract a really nice bunch of people (like ourselves!).
Bayview hostel, Taganga
Over-looking our balcony is a type of farm - basically a yard filled with goats, donkeys and cock-a-doodle-doos. What a menagerie - the noise is incredible at various parts of the day and the cocks begin crowing earlier than 6am most mornings. On my first morning, I look out to see the farmer-man has just killed a goat - which is now hanging from a tree while he skins it right in the middle of the yard with all the other goats! How horrible. Inside the hostel there are big beanbags everywhere, so in the evenings we stretch out and read our books, or practice yoga on the balcony. We also try some of the restaurants along the beach. Marie and Mauri are very good students - even bringing their books along to the restaurants!
Mauri reading about decompression sickness etc.
Our favourite restaurant, with a group of people from the hostel
I feel so relaxed! On Friday, Helene and I go diving at Tayrona National Park. It is so good to be in the water again, and we see lots of cool things on both dives. Including a big, grumpy barracuda. He circles us twice, annoyed that we have (accidentally) interrupted his nap and then leaves us. The colours are not so vibrant here as in Thailand or the Red Sea - but it is a nice (and cheap - £30 for 2 dives) place to dive. 
Back in the gear, happily under water
We debate about doing The Lost City trek near Santa Marta (which takes 6 days) and also about spending a few days in Tayrona park, but we have agreed to meet Adam on his birthday in Cartagena and to be honest we are quite content relaxing on a beach for a few days. On our last evening we go to 'El Garaje' and dance lots of salsa!
Drinks overlooking the ocean
Feeling healthy and fitter than when I arrived, we get the bus back to Cartagena, passing through Santa Marta once more. There are more horses/mules/donkeys and carts on the roads in Colombia than I have seen anywhere else in the world, we pass literally hundreds on the road back to Cartagena. Colombians don't seem to care so much for feeding their animals - here I have seen some of the skinniest creatures. We spoke to some guys who tried to feed the skin-and-bone dogs after dinner in Taganga, but the hounds didn't even give the meat a sniff, walking away with their tails between their legs. Someone suggested that all the dogs here are appetite-less cocaine addicts. Maybe. In this country, nothing is how one might expect.
i really like the picctures.
ReplyDeleteamazing job.
i hope to see more photos.